Rui
Full name Rui Bao Zheng, she answers only to a shortened version of her first name, Rui (pronounced like "ray"), and is a noble girl in the Fire Nation. Currently, she is a student at the Fire Nation Palace to learn more about diplomacy and the large-scale running of her government before returning to her father's side for more specific training to follow him History The only child of a minor noble who walked a fine line between his own values and execution for treason and his wife who passed away in child birth, she was taught from a very early age how to hide behind a mask of diplomacy to avoid trouble. She was sent, like most young girls, to the Academy where she showed to be a minor disappoint to her family by having no bending potential, even as she found other ways to succeed through her studies and taking up archery as recreation. At the fall of the previous Fire Lord Ozai, her family was not one of the ones that suffered as much politically under the new Fire Lord Zuko. That being said, Rui is of the age to begin her own introduction into Fire Nation politics as she has left the Academy to train as her father's sole heir, though not under him as would be expected. He prefers to live on the family estates, but she is going directly to the capital. Arriving at the capital, she has found herself with even more responsibilities, seeing as her father completely forgot about the house there, and she was left to arrange lessons on her own. She is trying to live up to her father’s expectations of her, but at times she wants to wash her hands of the struggles she faces, with other servants and with a doubt that she is a failure to her father and her mother’s memory. Rui has a unique family situation in the fact that her parents’ marriage was arranged to end a feud. It didn’t work. As a result, there is a good deal of tension between the Zheng and the Ran families to this date, made worse by the fact that Rui is the only girl in the entire family, with the rest being her father, and then an uncle, his three sons, and her grandfather on the maternal side of the family Personality Freakishly calm for someone of the Fire Nation, she is every inch the well-mannered noble girl. Polite to anyone, even in her anger, she finds ways of having revenge that help her maintain a public face of being kind. All that being said, nightmares make her grumpy and even she will snap at people in that kind of mood. She is also insanely curious, wanting to know everything. And her friends (what ones she has) are able to know they are her friends not because she is even nicer to them, but because she actually teases them more. Intelligent in the book sense, her practicality and common sense are not quite as sharp. She views life like a large Pai Sho game, and hates losing. Relationships Azara—Rui’s first friend in the capital, and so far the closest friend she’s ever had, Rui is beginning to look at Azara like a slightly younger sister. She has even agreed to let the other girl stay with her in the dilapidated Zheng home in the capital as an honored guest. However, she wonders if Azara understands the more subtle rules of Fire Nation nobility, and is trying to find out and correct if necessary without being nosy or interfering. Lan Lian—Introduced because of their respective guardians, she considers Lan a casual acquaintance, but at least she doesn’t hate her. In a large group setting, Rui may even try to help her to keep her from embarrassing herself. Liu—Having now accidentally born her soul to him, Rui is a little uncomfortable around the scribe. It’s made worse because her father has informed him of her mediocre calligraphy. She struggles between wanting to be friends with Liu, who seems to be as socially awkward as she can be (at least, she can be in informal situations), and the fact he is a servant and she is a noble. Jai—At first, Rui had a little bit of a crush on her teacher. However, that has mellowed out with his dating of her peer, Zohar, and instead she has quietly faded to the background. While she feels a little bitter, she also respects him and continues to listen to him as her teacher. Raizo—her best friend growing up, they played together on Ember Island whenever he was there for a visit. They met through her father, who had served with his father before Shuang Han was discharged, and were close ever since. In young Rui’s eyes, he was like an older brother as well as a friend. Until five years ago, when he was 13 and she was 10. He left, almost before her birthday, and he didn’t come back in later years. She has held the memory of him dear, and now she wants that easy friendship back again. Ran Relatives—'''her uncle and his three sons are a pain in Rui’s neck. They are nosy, stuck up, and constantly belittle her because of her “bad fortune” to be born a girl. That all being said, she is in a respectful relationship with her maternal grandfather, who retains a little more sense than his son and grandsons. Next to her father, it is Grandfather Ran that is most important in her life, and his opinion means a good deal to her. '''Servants—The servants Rui is used to dealing with are those of her father’s household and those who came with her mother from the Ran family’s lodgings. The former respect her as her father’s daughter and while they make it clear she is to respect that they know how to do their jobs, they usually agree that her orders are practical and offer her respect. Those who previously served the Ran, however, are quick to baby and coddle Rui, and dismiss her orders rather than following them. Rui tends to be harsher with them because of it, and watches them more closely for pushing the boundaries of the hierarchy set into place. Shan Zhi—Her father’s furry terror. To put it mildly, Rui hates the little furball. If it weren’t for the fact it would upset her father, she would kick her on sight. Instead, she deals out verbal barbs when her father is out of hearing range. Let’s just say the feeling is mutual. Shuang Han Zheng—Her beloved father, the two have an interesting dynamic. At times they seem more like siblings than father and daughter, with Rui being in charge of running the estates while he sees to the duties of being Governor. She respects him for all the work he does, though, and never fails to show it. It’s when she is need of emotional support that she falls into the more typical role of teenage daughter. However, she has taken to hiding her worries about honoring her mother’s memory and about whether or not Nuan would be proud of her from him. Zohar—She’s only met the other noble girl once, and after that all Rui has to gone on is rumor. That being said, she is aware of the courting status between Zohar and her former crush. If she met her again, Rui would try not to let it get between them too much, since she genuinely thinks they could be okay acquaintances. Category:Fire Nation Category:Noblemen Category:Original Characters